Close Ranks
by The Purple Eyed One
Summary: AU: In the middle of the 1970's, Edward Elric accidently foils one of the plans of an infamous group of plane hijackers and gets the attention of the local militia. With a little incentive, the chief officers get Edward to agree to work for them and catch more criminals. Now if only the military dog can stop biting at the heels of his superiors, they might be able to work together.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: This is my new Fullmetal Alchemist story, and I cannot be more excited. While writing it, I was surprised to see that it draws more parallels to the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist than Brotherhood—which is really weird, because I personally prefer Brotherhood overall. Oh well; I like both, so I guess it's not too big of a deal._

_P.S. In this AU, Alphonse is not in a suit of armor. Edward, however, does have the automail limbs. Just thought you should know._

_Then, without further delay, here is the first chapter:_

Chapter 1

"Ain't Winry going to be surprised," Ed mumbled haphazardly while he grazed on the end of a kebab, "when she sees we're going to visit her without my arm even being broken."

"Yeah, it's been awhile since you have done something nice like that," Al responded slyly, elbowing his older brother.

"Hey, come on now! I do nice stuff all the time! I'm one of the nicest guys around!" Ed insisted. He took the kebab stick out of his mouth and tossed it into the aisleway of the airplane, directly contradicting himself.

"That's littering, Brother," the younger of the two informed him in a hissed whisper.

"Feh, who cares?" Ed objected. "I don't know why we got to take this stupid plane in the first place. Trains are better. And cheaper! Why didn't we take a plane?"

"It's faster to go this way. And we don't want to miss Winry's birthday—especially this year because we remembered to get her a present and everything!"

"Oh yeah…" Ed folded his arms over his head. "We're two new men now, Al. Getting gifts, visiting friends… I can hardly even recognize myself anymore!"

"Yeah, yeah." Al shook his head.

"Attention, passengers! We'll be taking off very briefly!"

"_Finally._" Ed complained, "It's been, like, twelve hours since we got on this damn plane!"

"It's only been five minutes…"

"My point is still valid!"

"No, it's not."

The airplane started to crawl into motion, picking up momentum down the runway. Despite all his talk of being a "new man," Edward had a fear of things that flew for a long time, and he gripped the seat as the aircraft lifted into the sky, his stomach churning most disagreeably. Regretting every bite of food he had scarfed down in his nervousness, the Elric closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself somewhere else. Yes, somewhere less… thousands of feet in the air.

"Are you okay, Brother?"

"Huh? Oh, of course." Ed did not open his eyes but kept his voice upbeat in an attempt to assure Al that he was truthful. "I'm just tired is all. I think I'll take a nap or something."

"Good idea," Al responded. He was well aware of Ed's little phobia, and the younger brother knew it would be best if Ed slept through the trip.

Alphonse left Ed to sleep and glanced down the aisle, curious as to how the airplane operated. He was less scared of flying and more interested in how it actually worked.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Al inquired at a blonde woman in a flight attendant uniform. She handed off the glasses of water she had been serving to passengers to another attendant and came to Al's side.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Well, uh, you see…" Al was suddenly embarrassed over his curiosity. "… I don't really know how planes work all that well. Do you? I'd kind of like to know."

The attendant hesitated only for a second and then answered, "Sorry, I'm new to the job. And all I do is serve food and drinks. If you have further questions, you'll have to talk to the pilot." She gave him an apologetic smile. "On that note, could I get you anything?"

Al sighed. "No, but thanks anyway. Maybe I'll talk to the pilot later."

The woman nodded and walked briskly away.

"They sure do dress the attendants sexily, don't they?"

"Hey, I thought you were asleep!"

Ed chuckled, though his eyes were still closed. "Nah. Can't sleep with all this noise." He stretched and finally opened them, announcing, "But, hey, if you want to know how the plane flies so bad, we can just go ask."

"I don't want to be a bother…"

"Aw, come on. Don't give me that." Ed unbuckled his seatbelt and shakily stood up. He insisted, "It'll give me a good distraction."

"Well… Okay." Al followed suit, shadowing his brother down the aisle.

When they reached the pilot's room, Edward knocked gently on the door. "Anyone in there?" he called through the wall.

"I would think so." Al laughed. "The plane wouldn't be flying if they weren't."

"Oh, and suddenly you're the expert?" Ed droned sardonically. He knocked on the door again, this time louder and more obnoxious. "Yo! Hello? Is someone gonna answer me? We just have a quick ques—"

Ed had tried the door handle, to see if it was locked. Turns out it was not, and it swung open on only one hinge.

In a single glance, Edward surveyed the area and realized what had happened.

"Get down!"

The older Elric grabbed hold of his brother's shoulder and pushed him towards the ground, out of the rage of fire. A single bullet sped past them, piercing the carpet of the aircraft.

"What's going on, Brother?" Al asked shrilly, allowing Edward to push him as far against the wall as possible, his automail arm sprawled against Alphonse's chest and acting a makeshift shield.

"Shh!" Ed hissed, holding a finger to his lips.

Within a few seconds, several men stumbled out of the pilot's cabin, guns in their hands.

"This is a hostage situation!" the man in the front of the others shouted out, a wave of panic running over the people in the plane. "The pilot is dead, and if you don't want to be next, you'll sit in your seats, sip your drinks, and not utter a word!"

"What are they doing, Brother?" Al whispered, his tone trembling and panicky. "Are they going to hurt the people on the plane?"

"Considering the shape I saw the pilot in, I don't doubt it," Ed said morbidly. "In any case, we have to do something."

Suddenly, a woman appeared from under the seat behind the brothers, towing a rifle in her hands.

"Are you kids all right?"

"Hey, you're that flight attendant from before!" Al recognized, his exclamation followed by shushes from Ed and the woman.

"Yes, that's right," she confirmed softly, loading a few rounds into her gun.

"Jeez, for a flight attendant, you sure are packing heat," Ed commented. "So, is that your gun? The attendant business not paying enough or something?"

"No, I'm First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye of the State Military." The rifle made a soft clicking noise, announcing it was ready to be used. "I was asked to pose as a flight attendant because my Colonel was sure that there would be a situation on this plane today."

"How kind of him to put you in the line of fire." Ed added with genuine curiosity, "And where'd you pull that gun out from anyway? I see no pocket on that miniskirt you're wearing."

"Women's secret," Riza deadpanned, but there was a cruel irony in her voice. "At any rate, you kids should stay down and be quiet. I'll handle this."

"We can help," Al insisted.

"No need. My Colonel didn't put my here for nothing. Stay here." The Lieutenant steadily straightened her back until she could see just above the seat in front of her, set the gun on it to use it as a steady, and aimed. "You two might want to close your eyes," she informed them impassively.

Ed moved his arm up over Al's line of vision.

Several consecutive shots were fired, a screech of pain being produced from each one. There were a few cries of panic from the passengers of the plane, but it quickly died down when they realized it had only been the hijackers who had received the wounds.

When Hawkeye did not move a twitch from her position, Ed questioned, "Aren't you worried one of them still might be alive and retaliate?"

"They're not going to get back up," Riza promised grimly. She looked at the boys and told them, "The leader is still in the pilot's cabin though, so I'm going to go take care of him too. Please remain here until I return."

"Shouldn't you at least let the passengers know that everything will be fine?" Al asked concernedly.

"I wouldn't worry about them." Hawkeye loaded another round into her rifle and leaned the top of the gun on her shoulder. "In a couple of hours, all this event will amount to is an interesting discussion topic to bring up around the dinner table." She cast them a grim smile. "At least, that's what officers of the military strive for each day."

"I see." Al let his gaze fall on the floor, feeling helpless in the situation.

Riza sighed and sneaked around the corner, disappearing almost instantly out of sight.

"Don't feel bad, Al," Edward told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that the Hawkeye lady has got this. She seems pretty efficient."

"I suppose…"

A minute went by, and a sound was not made. The passengers were quiet, the airplane was quiet, and a surreal feeling of unsettlement had nestled its way into the air around them.

Finally, several shots were heard. But they did not cease immediately after as was assumed they would. No, they continued for several minutes, giving no hint that it would stop soon, if not ever.

"Something is definitely wrong," Al observed.

"Yeah." Ed muttered, "I think I'm gonna go check it out." He gave his brother a weary look. "Can you stay here and make sure the people know everything is going to turn out fine? Despite that Lieutenant's calm demeanor towards this, I think you had a good idea."

"I can do that," Al agreed, accompanied with a nod of his head.

The brothers stood up at the same time, going opposite directions.

The plane was still in the air, and it was starting to get some turbulence. Ed had to hold the sides of the aisle seats just to keep his balance, but he tried to sprint as fast as he could nonetheless.

The sound of Hawkeye's rifle got louder and louder until Ed was in front of the captain's door. He didn't knock this time though and instead forcefully kicked the door down. This time he opened it, it fell off its last hinge all together and collapsed to the floor.

Even in the small area of the pilot's cabin, Riza and the plane hijacker were on the outermost edges of the room. The Lieutenant was shooting at the man, and he was dynamically dodging each one with ridiculous and almost inhuman-like ability. Ed figured Riza would have the upper hand, being a trained and armed lieutenant of the military. But she actually seemed to be on the losing side, considering the broad smirk the hijacker was wearing.

Within a moment of Ed standing there, Hawkeye's rifle ran out of ammo. She didn't seem overly concerned though and began swinging her gun towards the criminal, attempting to knock him out. Unfortunately, he kicked her to the ground when she got within striking range.

When the hijacker pulled out a gun of his own, that's when Edward made his move.

The man's weapon hit the window of the cockpit.

Ed shook his hand, getting rid of the sting that lingered after he had punched the gun. "Hey, bastard, isn't it a little ungentlemanly to be fighting a woman?"

"Kid, stay out of this," the Lieutenant ordered calmly but forcefully. She wiped some blood off her cheek onto the back of her hand. "You don't know what you're dealing with. He's a—"

"Yeah, yeah, he's a bad guy. Whatever." Ed cracked his knuckles. "All I see is a disarmed bastard who interrupted my merry time on this little trip."

"No, it's not that. He's an alch—"

"Sit back, Lieutenant. I can handle this one."

The hijacker merely sneered. He clapped his hands together and slapped the interior of the airplane.

Edward raised an eyebrow at this.

Suddenly, the metal lining the cockpit began to crumple around the Elric. He narrowly slipped out of the trap, shouting, "What the hell was that?"

"My alchemy!" the hijacker answered, grinning maliciously while he sent several more flying metal parts at Ed.

"'Alchemy'…?" Ed echoed. He dodged a slab of sheet metal and growled, "I don't have time for your parlor tricks!"

"Then how about this one?"

The floor extended upward, almost like a large, mechanical hand. It hit Ed in the chin, sending him flying backward against the wall.

"Brother! Miss Hawkeye!"

"Al, go!" Ed's head was throbbing and his world was progressively getting darker, but he shouted anyway when he heard his little brother's distinct tone. "Quickly!"

"I'll kill this one first then," the criminal decided, beginning his "alchemy" by clapping his hands.

"You bastard…" Ed snarled lowly, picking himself up from the ground. "If you think I'll just sit here while you hurt my brother…" Sub-consciously, the older brother joined his hands together. "… You're mistaken!"

Edward lunged forward, and something of a blade extended from his automail arm. It felt foreign and natural all at the same time as the weapon that came from seemingly nowhere cut into the hijacker, the man hitting the floor and being knocked cold on impact.

"Brother…" Al breathed. "How did you do that?"

"I'll… I'll let you know… later…" Ed mumbled as the world spun until it became veiled in darkness, someone catching him just before he hit the ground.

-transition-

"Are you really okay, Miss Hawkeye?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It looked worse than it was. But thank you for being concerned, Alphonse."

A groan came from Edward. "This sucks…" he grumbled, rolling over and covering the aching spot on the back of his head. "What the hell happened?"

"Brother, you're awake!"

Ed was suddenly crushed into a hug, to which he sputtered a bit in pain.

"Eh, eh, easy!" Ed told him.

"Oh, sorry." Al chuckled slightly and released. "Are you okay now, Brother?"

Ed sat up in the hospital bed. "Yeah, I think so. It's starting to come back to me… Wait, are we still on that godforsaken plane?"

"No," Hawkeye assured. "You're on the ground."

"Phew. Glad our nightmare in the sky is over."

Riza awkwardly tugged at the bandages on her neck. "Yes, well, my Colonel would like to have a word with you in a couple hours when you're feeling better."

Ed narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Just to talk over some things."

"Somehow, I doubt it's as innocent as the light you're putting it in, Lieutenant."

To this, Riza remained quiet. She exited through the hospital room door and commanded sternly while it was slightly ajar, "Get some rest."

With that, the door clicked shut.

"What'd you tell her, Al?" Ed questioned.

"Nothing," Al insisted. "All she wanted to know was our names. Nothing else."

"Did she ask about my metal arm and leg?"

"No."

"Or about where we come from?"

"No."

"Or about where we were going?"

"_No._"

"Why does it feel like you're covering for her?"

"I'm not!"

"Feh." Ed sighed and stared out the hospital window. "Fine, I believe you. But I do want to talk to her Colonel or whatever. I have a few choice words for him."

"Please don't yell at him. You'll make a poor first impression."

"I'll yell if I wanna yell!"

"_Brother_!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ed rolled over so that he was facing the wall. "So the bastard wants to know about Alchemy, eh?" he muttered under his breath. "Oh, I'll tell him. I'll tell him all about Alchemy."

_Author's Note: Why can't action scenes just write themselves? OTL_

_Well, there it is. I hope you guys like it so far, and I look forward to elaborating on it more soon! Here's hoping I don't screw it up!_

_(Oh, and reviews would be fantastic.)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Happy, happy birthday, to you, and you, you. Here's a nice chapter that is very, very new. (The rhyme is intentional. And also very lame. I promise that the chapter is better.) _

_Enjoy._

Chapter 2

Riza escorted Ed and Al to the state military office herself. She rented a car, picked the boys up at the front of the hospital, and immediately pulled off the main road, taking a back road through the countryside instead. Edward could not decide if the route she took was for convenience or distraction, but it did end up accomplishing a little bit of both in the end.

That didn't, of course, mean Edward did not ask questions.

"So, this Colonel of yours…" Ed brought up nonchalantly, glaring out the window at the golden wheat fields. "… Have you worked with him a long time?"

Riza didn't bat an eye, her gaze laying firmly ahead on the dirt road. "Yes," she answered.

"And, uh… What kind of questions do you think he has for us?" Ed could feel Al's pleading eyes grazing the back of his head from behind him, but the older brother purposefully ignored the feeling.

Riza glimpsed at Edward for a single moment and then responded, "You boys know you're not in any trouble, right? You've committed no crimes. If anything, you're heroes. So, if you don't want to answer any of my Colonel's questions, that's perfectly fine." She paused thoughtfully before adding, "However, I think you'll come to find that the Colonel has only the best intentions in mind. All he wants to do is help people; if you could aid us in that, it would be most helpful." There was softness that sneaked into Riza's expression as she said this, but it went blatantly unnoticed by the older Elric.

"Is that so?" Ed rolled his eyes and gave Al a "can you believe what this chick is saying?" kind of look.

"It is," she promised. Then the Lieutenant glanced in the rearview mirror and asked, "Alphonse, you said you and your brother have a friend whom lives around here, correct?"

"Huh?" Al shook himself out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah. Our friend Winry. We've known her since we were all really little."

"And it's her birthday?"

"Uh-huh. Brother and I aren't good at keeping track of the time, so we usually forget. But we actually remembered this year!"

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you two."

Ed leaned his head against the cool car window. This awkward chatter was giving him a headache. It was only happening in order to lessen the tense atmosphere, and the fact that Lieutenant Hawkeye was intentionally tiptoeing around the topic at hand was enough to make Edward sick.

After what seemed like an eternity, the trio finally arrived at the military office. Riza showed her official pass to the guards at the gate, and they let the car through.

Just a couple minutes later, Ed and Al were walked down the squeaky halls of the militia base, Riza leading the way. She had a brown briefcase with her, and with every stride, it clinked against the side of her leg in rhythm to her pace. Ed wondered as to what was in the official-looking bag but tried not to speculate too wildly until he knew for sure how this meeting with the Colonel would go.

"Listen, Al…" Ed cupped his hand to the side of his face in vain attempt to make the conversation private. "If this Colonel guy turns out to be less than okay, I'm going to punch the bastard in the face while you make a run for it."

"Please don't do that."

"Yeah? And why not?"

"Because you heard Lieutenant Hawkeye. He's a good man. If you go drawing conclusions about him that aren't necessarily true, you might end up doing something you'll regret," Al advised sensibly.

Ed sighed loudly. Fiddling with his gloves restlessly, he mumbled, "You might be right. But still… If I do end up punching him, just run. Don't hesitate. Got it?"

Al shook his head but ended up agreeing anyway to calm his brother's nerves: "Got it."

"We're here," Riza told the boys, stopping in front of a large double-door entrance to a private office. "This is my Colonel's office. Please be respectful when you speak to him."

"No promises," Ed was quick to reply, warranting an elbow to the ribs from Alphonse.

The Lieutenant did not seem to mind this response though and held open the door for the brothers.

Both boys were able to tell right away what type of person this Colonel was.

The Colonel whom was so feared by others and was so respected by Lieutenant Hawkeye… He was… He was…

Asleep.

"_Colonel_!"

"Huh—? Ow!" The Colonel's head had been precariously perched on his hand as he snoozed away, and with Hawkeye's bark to attention, he had moved his hand down and inadvertently made his head sink down and meet his desk with a swift _smack. _"Jeez, Lieutenant, warn a man next time!" Roy complained into the wooden exterior of his desk.

"My apologies," Hawkeye droned, but she did not sound the least bit apologetic. She shut the office doors behind Ed and Al, announcing, "Sir, these two are Edward and Alphonse Elric. You wanted to speak with them, yes?"

"That's right," the Colonel confirmed bitterly, rubbing the red spot on his forehead where his head had made direct impact with the desk. He stood up then and introduced, "My name is Colonel Roy Mustang. It's a pleasure to meet you, Elric brothers."

"Mustang, eh?" Ed summarized and held out his hand. "Fine then."

Mustang briefly shook the offered hand and then sat down again, motioning Ed and Al to do the same. They did so, but Riza did not and marched right to the side of her superior, standing like a brick wall next the Colonel.

"I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me," Roy began, flashing a faint smile.

"We didn't have much of a choice, did we?" Edward muttered cynically. He side-glanced at Alphonse and continued, "You know, we're pretty busy people—Al and I, I mean. We have schedules just like everyone else."

Roy's expression was one of slight upheaval at this comment, but he recovered quickly enough. "Yes, I know. As I said prior, I appreciate it."

"Mr. Mustang…" Al sneaked into the conversation before either Ed or Roy could get too agitated. "I think my brother is just a little confused as to why you want to talk to us."

"Ah, yes, I see how you could be." Mustang folded his hands. "It was you, the older Elric, that I wanted to have a discussion with anyway."

"Uh, actually—"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING THE YOUNGER BROTHER? I'M PERFECTLY NORMAL HEIGHT FOR MY AGE!"

"Brother, calm down!"

"WHY SHOULD I?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Roy cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up some laughter. "I automatically thought you were the younger one."

"IT'S BECAUSE I'M SHORT, ISN'T IT?"

"Yes, that's correct. Short-tempered, that is."

This made Edward suck in his breath and grow quiet. _Damn him, _Ed thought with a growl. _What a smartass._

"If we're done straying off topic, could I ask you a few questions?" Mustang held out his hand and requested, "Hawkeye, could you hand me my briefcase?"

"Certainly, sir," she replied, but instead of directly handing it to the Colonel, she set it down in front of him on his desk. This seemed to be exactly what he was anticipating, because Roy spent no time at all opening the briefcase with a key he fished out of his pocket and taking out its contents.

It only turned out to be a stack of papers—reports most likely. The man skimmed out the papers and concluded, "I see that you two encountered an alchemist. You were very impressive in controlling the situation. And I personally thank you for looking after my Lieutenant."

"We just did what was right," Al dismissed softly.

"Yeah, but it sure was a hell of a lot of trouble to go through." Ed gave Roy a hard stare. "It was pretty boneheaded of you to leave Lieutenant Hawkeye in that hostage situation without back-up."

"Yes, I agree with you actually. I didn't, however, realize that we would be dealing with an alchemist and not just a normal plane hijacker." Roy blinked slowly and then announced, "This brings me to my first question: What do you boys know about alchemy?"

The office went silent, contradicting the mood of the former conversation so drastically that it was almost alarming.

"Nothing," Ed finally answered. "We know nothing about it."

"I see… Then, that transformation that happened to your metal arm… You have no idea what happened to it?"

"Tch." Ed cocked his head sideways and snarled, "Yeah, no idea. I figured my automail just acted up and did something weird. It's a piece of machinery, you know; it needs regular maintenance like everything else."

"I don't doubt that." Roy transitioned, "But that does raise the question of how you got those 'automail'—as you call them—limbs."

Ed sighed tiredly. "Look, you should abandon your studies of alchemy." He lowered his voice, his next words coming out in a mangled and nearly incomprehensible mess. Yet, somehow, the three others present were all able to decipher out: "It'll only bring you pain…"

"I thought you didn't know anything about alchemy." Roy was smirking now, reveling in his small victory.

Edward hung his head and muttered, "It doesn't exist, okay? It doesn't work."

"'Doesn't exist' and 'doesn't work' are two very separate things, Elric." Roy rose from his desk at this and began to lethargically pace behind it. "Will you listen to me, Edward? Because I'd like to tell you a story."

"Oh, goodie. Story time." Ed was back to being facetious and obnoxious within a millisecond, and Roy was surprised how night and day this Edward was from the one a couple seconds ago.

Nevertheless, the Colonel ignored this best he could and began, "Many years ago, the military started studying different types of sciences in hopes of creating some new forms of weapons—"

"You win the Nobel Peace Prize for that?"

Fully ignoring this remark, Mustang went on: "A handful of scientists in the country had recently been looking into a very newly discovered science they had dubbed as 'alchemy.' It is a study of the elements and chemicals of this world. Although it was still very much in the prototype stage—none of it having worked successfully yet—I wanted to try it and see it for myself."

"Hoping to get a promotion, eh, Colonel?"

"I looked into Professor Hawkeye's work; he was very renowned for discovering a new branch of alchemy. Although, this form of alchemy failed to work as well."

"Oh, yeah, I totally would have bet my career on that. Sounds promising."

"The point is, Elric, that I did experiment and study quite a lot. Later, combining Professor Hawkeye's work and another scientist's, I accidently made my gloves disappear—"

"A waste of perfectly good gloves."

"—and when they returned from a place both scientists has called 'the gate,' they were able to perform alchemy."

"What? Your gloves?" Edward groaned. "This is all well and good, Colonel, but they are fairytales. Alchemy doesn't work."

Intrigued, Roy raised an eyebrow. "How do you know for sure?"

Ed sought Al's approval before explaining, "Well, Al's and my mother died when we were kids. I thought I could bring her back. Our good-for-nothing father had been obsessed with the stupid study of alchemy, and when he abandoned us, he left all his work behind in his office and library. I read the work and thought I could produce what the theories were suggesting could be done—"

"Brother—"

"It's okay, Al. Let me finish." Ed took a deep breath and pushed on: "Al didn't know I was going to try this. I didn't want to involve him in something I wasn't sure was not a hundred percent safe. It didn't turn out to matter anyway, because when I attempted the 'transmutation' and lost my arm and leg, he witnessed it on accident. And, in the end, nothing came from it. Our mom didn't come back to life and my arm and leg are now permanently gone. So, forgive me, Mustang, if I'm a little skeptical on whether or not you actually know what you are preaching."

Riza wrote down the last of Edward's tale and handed it to Roy to file in the rest of the reports. He didn't do this though, and instead, he kept it in his hand, waving it back and forth leisurely.

"Elric, no one needs to know about this," Mustang told him, giving the report a little shake for emphasis. "And I will destroy this information in its entirety if you agree to help me with a task."

"Help you with what? I told you: Alchemy doesn't exist. It doesn't work. Only fools continue to delve deeper into a practice that gives you no results."

"Oh? Really?" Swiftly, Roy snapped his fingers as he held onto the piece of paper.

Suddenly, the corner of it began to darken, crinkling onto itself as a blaze steadily engulfed it.

"Brother, he—!"

"Impossible. It's a trick, Al. Don't believe it."

"Flame alchemy is no trick, Elric brothers." The report burned completely, and Roy brushed the ashes to the floor. He discarded his gloves and tucked them in the briefcase. As he did, he paraphrased, "You see now how dangerous alchemy can be if gets in the wrong hands. And, unfortunately, the sudden interest and research into it has leaked out into the public enough the several criminals now have access to it. Take your plane hijacker for example. You were a witness yourself." The Colonel added solemnly, "And that is the reason I am talking to you right now: It is to make sure that you won't become one of these criminals."

"But, as my brother said, he doesn't know alchemy." Al disputed, "I don't know what kind of truth is behind the study as a whole, but it doesn't really matter. In the end, I can't perform alchemy. And neither can my brother."

"But you already have." It was Hawkeye who said this, her demeanor still professional and stoic. "On the plane, when the hijacker almost attacked Alphonse, your mechanical arm changed."

"Yeah, but I already told you that it probably just malfunctioned," Ed argued.

"Well, I speculate," Mustang described carefully, "that, when you did that failed transmutation, your arm and leg were lost to the gate through equivalent exchange."

"Equivalent e-what?"

"Equivalent exchange. The law that states that if you commit a taboo to gain something, something of equal value must be lost."

"You think I lost my arm and leg because of some _law_? Are you kidding me?"

"That is my theory, yes."

"And you think that I gained something? What could I have possibly gained?"

"The ability to perform alchemy."

"Cut the crap!" Color was rushing to Ed's face, but he was sick of repeating himself. "I can't do alchemy! Nobody can! You got that?"

"Damn it, Elric! Get this through your head! You're an alchemist now, and with it comes responsibility!"

Ed stood up abruptly, yanking Al up with him. "We're leaving," he decided. "I think we've had enough for one day."

Roy sat down and folded his hands a second time, reclaiming a proper conduct. "All right," he allowed. "You are still injured after all. And I heard you were visiting a friend around here, so I shouldn't hold you up any longer." He motioned to Hawkeye and inquired, "You wouldn't mind escorting them there, would you, Lieutenant?"

"Of course not, sir," she agreed. Riza led them out of the room in silence.

A mutual look was exchanged between both older and young brother and superior and subordinate before the door to Mustang's office was closed with decisive click.

_Author's Note: And that's it for this installment. I hope that cleared up some of the questions you guys were leaving in your reviews._

_Speaking of reviews, I loved all the ones I got last time I updated this chapter! They really made me proud to have conjured up the idea to this story. I think you'll like the rest of it as well. Please let me know what you think in a review if you can spare the time._

_Thank you._


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